The present invention relates to a system for integrated pitch and thrust control of an aircraft.
At present, aircraft carry both a pitch control system under the control of the joystick made available to the pilot and acting on the pitch control surfaces and/or the optional adjustable horizontal tail plane of the aircraft, and also a thrust control system for controlling the speed of the aircraft, said thrust control system being controlled by an automatic or manual throttle acting on the engine(s) of the aircraft.
Thus, when the pilot seeks to change the longitudinal trim of the aircraft, he moves the joystick of the pitch control system accordingly such that the pitch control surfaces and/or the adjustable horizontal tail plane are tilted in the desired direction. However, such a change in trim also changes the speed of the aircraft: if its nose goes up, its speed goes down, whereas if its nose goes down its speed goes up. As a result, after a pilot has acted on the pitch control system, he must act on the thrust control system to bring the aircraft speed back to the desired value.
Conversely, when the pilot desires to change the speed of the aircraft, he operates the throttle of the engine thrust control system. However, such a change in the speed setting gives rise to a pitching movement such that after acting on the speed control system, the pilot needs to act on the pitch control system to return the aircraft to the desired trim, if the longitudinal motion of the said aircraft is to be controlled.
It can thus be seen that a change in the speed or the trim setting of an aircraft obliges the pilot to act on two control systems: pitch and speed.